Foreign Collusion, Naked Shorting (Counterfeiting) & Money Laundering — All Illicit Wealth
RM LAW Announces Investigation of Craft Brew Alliance, Inc.
15 November 2019
RM LAW, P.C. is investigating potential claims against the board of directors of Craft Brew Alliance, Inc. (“CBA” or the “Company”) (BREW) concerning possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law related to the Company’s efforts to sell the Company to Anheuser-Busch (“A-B”).
Toronto Transit Commission settles benefits fraud lawsuit
Staff , 15 November 2019
The Toronto Transit Commission has settled a 2016 lawsuit against its insurer for the alleged failure to detect a benefits fraud scheme involving orthotics store Healthy Fit Inc. To date, 10 people — nine former TTC employees and Healthy Fit owner Adam Smith — have been convicted in relation to the scheme. More than 250 TTC employees resigned or retired to avoid dismissal, or were dismissed outright, while an additional 14 were disciplined. “While terms of the settlement are confidential, the TTC is pleased to see this matter resolved in a way that allows both companies to move forward with a renewed commitment to preventing benefits fraud and penalizing those who commit it,” the TTC said in a press release.
Continue reading “Article: Toronto Transit Commission settles benefits fraud lawsuit”
BGC Financial, L.P. Fined by FINRA
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $40,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to immediately execute, route, or display customer limit orders in over-the-counter securities. The findings stated that the violations resulted from the firm’s delayed handling of limit orders that would lock or cross the market.
11 November 2019
Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Overstock.com, Inc. (“Overstock” or the “Company”) ( OSTK). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980.
The investigation concerns whether Overstock and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
Kadhim Shubber is the Legal and Enforcement correspondent for the Financial Times (UK), based in Washington, D.C., from March 2018. He was previously a reported for FT Alphabille. He is a graduate of Imperial College London, with a Master of Science in Physics.
Tower Research Capital pays $67m to settle spoofing charges
Kadhim Shubber in Washington
Financial Times
Tower Research Capital in $67M settlement for spoofing futures. High-frequency trading firm Tower Research Capital will pay $67.4 million to settle allegations of spoofing by three former traders, the largest settlement to date associated with the illegal activity.
Elon Musk wants to send investor ‘short shorts,’ as he battles David Einhorn
DailyMail, 9 November 2019
Elon Musk has offered to send a pair of ‘short shorts’ to his biggest critic and Tesla short seller David Einhorn, after the hedgefund boss was forced to admit to his shareholders that he’s lost money betting against the automaker.
Musk’s jibe came after Einhorn took a swipe at the Tesla owner in a letter to his shareholders last week, in which he claimed that the ‘accepted reality (at Tesla) appears to be that Elon Musk is above the law.’
Tesla’s Musk, Greenlight’s Einhorn taunt each other on Twitter
Reuters, 8 November 2019
Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and noted short-seller David Einhorn mocked each other in open letters published on Twitter on Friday, trading barbs clothed in polite language.
Einhorn on Oct. 30 had told his investors at Greenlight Capital that his fund had lost money on Tesla. Greenlight bet against the electric carmaker, and shares rose in the second quarter.
Craig S. Waldman , 08 November 2019
One of the PSLRA’s key procedural protections is the automatic stay of discovery during the pendency of a motion to dismiss. This serves “to protect defendants … from the burden and expense of premature discovery … until the court sustains the sufficiency of the complaint.” ATSI Communications v. Shaar Fund, Ltd., 2003 WL 1877227, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. April 2, 2003). “The legislative history of the PSLRA indicates that Congress enacted the discovery stay to prevent plaintiffs from filing securities class actions with the intent of using the discovery process to force a coercive settlement.” In re LaBranche Sec. Litig., 333 F. Supp. 2d 178, 181 (S.D.N.Y. 2004). Congress also aimed “to prevent plaintiffs from … using [a meritless lawsuit] as a vehicle ‘in order to conduct discovery in the hopes of finding a sustainable claim not alleged in the complaint.’” In re Vivendi Universal, S.A. Sec. Litig., 381 F. Supp. 2d 129, 129-30 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) (quoting S. Rep. No. 104-98, at 14 (1995)). Continue reading “Article: The PSLRA’s Discovery Stay During the Pendency of a Motion To Dismiss Applies in State Court Actions Asserting 1933 Act Claims”
London Court Hears £1B Forex-Rigging Case Against Five Banks
Aziz Abdel-Qader, 05 November 2019
The case accusing Barclays, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Royal Bank of Scotland, and UBS of foreign exchange rigging is scheduled to be heard at London’s tribunal on Wednesday.
The five global banks are facing a £1 billion ($1.3 billion) class-action lawsuit that seeks to compensate pension funds, asset managers, hedge funds, and corporations that lost out because these banks participated in a market manipulation scheme between 2007 and 2013. However, the total value of potential fines will depend on the number of forex trades executed in London, and the proportional impact of rate-rigging on GBP trades. Continue reading “Article: London Court Hears £1B Forex-Rigging Case Against Five Banks”
Fraser Perring: Chronicles of Deceit, Part I
Roddy Boyd
Foundation for Financial Journalism, 4 November 2019
Forty-six-year-old Fraser Perring, a resident of Lincoln, England, founded and runs Viceroy Research with two other analysts. Their investigations of what they claim are misleading corporate disclosures or flawed business models have regularly sent the stock prices of their targets spiraling downward.
But as revealed by a seven-month investigation by the Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation, Perring is a charlatan of the first order, with a brazen multiyear record of personal and professional deceit. It makes one wonder, If Perring is fudging the truth to reporters about houses and cars, what else is he not on the level about? A lot, it turns out.
The first part of this investigation lays out Perring’s erratic and troubling conduct, including some dubious methods to generate interest for his research on stock message boards and his impersonating a well-known hedge fund manager. Part two will examine the real forces backing and benefiting the business model of Perring and many other activist short sellers.
C. L. King & Associates, Inc. Fined by FINRA
A National Adjudicatory Counsel (NAC) decision became final in which the firm was censured, fined $342,000 and ordered to retain an independent consultant and Miller was fined $20,000, suspended from association with any FINRA® member in any principal and supervisory capacity for three months and required to requalify by examination before acting in any principal or supervisory capacity.
Aurora Capital LLC Fined by FINRA
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured, fined $15,000, ordered to certify to FINRA that it has adopted and implemented policies, procedures and systems that are reasonably designed to address each of the areas of conduct identified in the AWC, that it has completed a risk-based retrospective review of electronic communications sent or received by its associated personnel reasonably designed to achieve compliance with FINRA Rule 3110(b)(4) and that it has completed an inspection of each of its offices to achieve compliance with FINRA Rule 3110(c).
Alexander Capital, L.P. Fined by FINRA
A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $45,000, and Sullivan was fined $5,000, suspended from association with any FINRA® member in any financial and operations principal (FINOP) capacity for one month and required to requalify by examination as a FINOP. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm and Sullivan consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that the firm conducted a securities business while failing to maintain its minimum net capital requirement.
H.C. WAINWRIGHT STICKS TO ITS BUY RATING FOR EKSO BIONICS (EKSO)
Catie Powers
Markets.co, 31 October 2019
H.C. Wainwright analyst Swayampakula Ramakanth reiterated a rating on EKSO BIONICS ( – Research Report) today and set a price target of $1.20. The company’s shares closed last Monday at $0.66, close to its 52-week low of $0.48.
THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?
